After the Fall
by Eule-II
Summary: Title may change in the future :       Gaston has survived his fall into the ravine. What will he do now that he has failed to kill the beast?
1. Chapter 1

It seemed to take him forever to crawl out of the muddy riverbank in the middle of the wilderness. After his fall from the castle he'd been carried down the wide river a long way and now he was lost. Lost, bleeding and quite certain that he'd broken some of his ribs and his leg. Half blinded by grime and the blood running down his face he crawled forward, groaning and cursing as the world began to slide out of focus. Eventually he succumbed to the blackness that subdued his pain. Broken, bleeding, filthy and half-dead; that was how a passing peddler woman found Gaston on a cool spring night...

...

Gaston woke to an unpleasant jostling sensation and the sound of hoof-beats, he opened one eye and looked around him, he was in a wagon of some kind, laying on a bed of blankets. A small, square window to his right allowed him enough light to see his surroundings. All around him was a collection of wares so varying in nature that he had to wonder how on earth anyone could have amassed such an array of items. Books written in different languages at one end, an ornate tea set, delicate porcelain dolls, strange and extravagant looking robes with patterns of golden fish and flowers, there was even a solid gold Arabian oil lamp! Perched on a shelf, near a set of colored glass figures was a blue parrot, it glowered ill-temperedly at him and fluffed up its feathers when Gaston caught its eye.

A few moments later the wagon came to a stop, a colorful headscarf flashed passed the window and the door to the back of the wagon opened. The figure appeared female but her head and face were covered by her green scarf. She wore a very clean, white tunic trimmed with dark blue at her wide, elbow-length sleeves. Around her waist was a pale yellow sash and her legs were clad in tan breeches tucked into shiny black riding boots.

"You're awake, good," she said climbing into the wagon. Her voice was rich and deep for a woman, smooth and velvety, it was perhaps the loveliest voice Gaston had ever heard and he was soothed by her warm tones. "How was it that you were injured?" she asked him, moving closer so that he was able to see what little of her face was not covered by her scarf. Her skin was too fair for her to have been a gypsy but there was a distinct golden tone to it, and her amber eyes had a subtle tilt to them that suggested mixed ancestry.

"I...I fell, I was trying to kill a beast," he replied.

The woman studied him for a moment but did not question him further. "You've been asleep for four days, your injuries were very bad. Twice I thought you would die, but it seems that you're a strong one. Now tell me, what is your name and where do you live?" she asked.

"I'm Gaston Grosvenor, I'm from the town of Bergeron," he replied. A sharp pain in his side caused him to grimace, "How bad, exactly, are my injuries?"

"You've broken a few ribs, you hurt your leg but it isn't broken and should heal quickly...and you have a terrible wound on your face," she added a bit hesitantly, "It will likely scar,"

Gaston lurched forward, only to fall back with a yelp of pain. The woman steadied him, "Don't do that! You'll make it all worse!" she cried.

"A mirror! Get me a mirror! I need to see what happened to my face!" he demanded.

The woman's eyes widened in mild shock and she reached over to take a small hand mirror off of a nearby shelf for him.

Gaston seized the mirror and looked at his reflection. The right side of his face was alright, a few small scratches on the cheek but nothing drastic, the left side was a different story. A long, jagged line ran down his cheek and chin, dragging the corner of his mouth down a in a permanent frown. At his cheek bone the injury branched making it an uneven "Y" shape around his eye. It had been stitched up as well as the woman could have managed, but the skin was still red and puckered. He cringed and set down the mirror. There went his good looks...

"You are fortunate to have your life," said the woman, "Be grateful and don't grieve for this,"

Gaston glowered at her, "Just who are you anyway?"

"My name is Lia," the woman replied, "I will take you to the nearest town and find you a place to stay so that you may recover," she said.

"Can't you just take me back to my town?" asked Gaston,

"That is a week's journey at best, and with you injured it will take me even longer," said Lia. "And then it will be another two weeks for me to get to the next town, it's more than a three week delay in my schedule,"

"So?"

"So, I have already sold wares in Bergeron this month, and made barely enough for a week supply of food for myself and my horse, I cannot expect to make more money from that town so soon after my last visit, and I cannot afford to miss my next stop in Rouen. I am not the only peddler who runs this route and if I miss a stop someone else will have already taken it, and then I am out of money. Turning around now and then turning back around will cost too much. You can get off at the next stop in five days, or you can circle my route with me for the next four months until I come back around to Bergeron,"

Lia's tone left no room for negotiation, Gaston would have to chose. Get off at Rouen and hope he could heal up and find a way back to Bergeron on his own, or wait it out a full four months and stick with Lia until she returned to the little village...

...

_Hello I'm back, for now, I've been doing a lot of traveling over the past year and I nearly forgot about this site. But I have a little spare time on my hands and I thought I'd return to Beauty and the Beast, since this is where I posted my first Fan Fic. It feels like it's been forever, I may finish my other Fan Fics, I may not. But enough of that, I'm writing another Fic about Gaston. Why? Because I really liked writing about him last time, he has a lot of potential to be a very interesting character._

_This fic is completely separate from my first one so you don't have to go back and read that one to enjoy this one. I don't know, as of yet, if I'm going to redeem Gaston in this one. It's still up in the air and could go either way. It will depend on how I feel the fic will work best. In the meantime, I'd love your comments and critiques._

Cheers

~Enos


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter has been edited since publication**

* * *

><p>Gaston decided to stay with Lia, he had lost his coin bag, and his bow and arrows in the fall and so had nothing with which he could barter a ride home. Lia had given him some vegetable soup to eat and checked his wounds before returning to the front of the wagon and driving her horse forward.<p>

Without her there to talk to him Gaston found himself reflecting on his actions prior to his plummet from the castle. He had never before felt such wrath towards any creature as he had for that beast, in a single instance of rage and jealousy he had determined that, if he couldn't have Belle, neither could the beast. Now that he was alone, injured and far from home he felt a twinge of regret. The beast was dead, he was sure of that, but he still didn't have Belle. He'd never have Belle….he'd lost. For the first time in his life, he had lost. The revelation stung him, sharp and cold as hard steel, it dug into his heart. He, _Gaston_, had not been victorious.

What of Belle? She was still alive but if she felt anything at all for Gaston it must have been hatred. If only she had said yes to his proposal, things wouldn't be as they were. This was her fault! _No_, said a small voice in the back of his mind, _this is your fault_. Try as he might he couldn't blame Belle, if he had just walked away then he could be happily sitting in the tavern, drinking and telling stories right now.

Why had he been so desperate for her to begin with? She had been beautiful, but had that really been it? Had he been willing to throw his whole life away for a pretty face? His own motives no longer made sense to him. His head was beginning to throb and, rather than look any more deeply into what he had done and why he had done it, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

….

Some hours later the wagon came to a stop and Gaston woke to the smell of food. He shifted and winced, he was starting to get stiff from lying around and he was still very sore in places. Lia returned with another bowl of soup. Gaston frowned, "Don't you have anything more solid? Or with meat in it?" he asked.

Her eyes narrowed under her scarf, "You_ want_ me to dump you out of this wagon and let you fend for yourself? No? Then shut up and eat. You're still not well and this soup has herbs that will speed the healing process. Also, meat is expensive, hard to store, and takes a long time to prepare; I do not have enough to stretch it for everyday meals."

"If you weren't a woman maybe you could hunt something…" Gaston grumbled.

Lia hissed at him and snatched his bowl from his hands, "You will show me respect or you will not eat!"

"What? What did I say?" Gaston was genuinely confused. He'd just stated a simple fact!

"If I don't hunt it isn't because I'm a woman, it's because I'm too busy buying and selling in the markets to take the time," she said firmly.

"Fine! Have it your way!" said Gaston throwing up his hands in a pacifying gesture. Lia snorted and handed him his soup back.

"We're making camp for tonight, the sun is going down and this road is not safe to travel in the dark," she said. Reaching up she removed her headscarf, letting a long fall of russet hair cascade about her shoulders in a tangled mane. She was rather pretty, Gaston thought. Not an unparalleled beauty but certainly not bad to look at. She looked younger than he'd imagined her to be, like she was still under twenty and her features were pleasing enough. A short, straight nose and full rosy lips on a high cheek-boned face, she wasn't Belle, but in her own exotic way Lia had appeal. She noticed him staring and cocked an eyebrow. He gave her a confident smile, which prompted a confused look.

"You're a pretty girl, why don't you have a husband taking care of you?" he asked.

She squinted at him…what an odd man…"I don't need one," she said a little hesitantly.

"Nonsense! Every girl needs a husband and with your looks you could have gotten a fine one," insisted Gaston.

This earned him an appraising look, "You have been injured…and you are possibly sick…I will not question you," she reasoned, "You are clearly not recovered,"

Gaston was taken aback, what kind of reaction was that to his compliment? He thought to say something but decided not to, no point in making trouble for himself when he was in this helpless condition.

Lia broke up a crust of bread in her hand to feed her parrot. The bird mad a pleased clicking, whistling, sound and fluffed up its blue feathers.

"Where'd you get the bird?" asked Gaston, hoping to make the atmosphere a bit friendlier by striking up a conversation.

"He was a gift from a sailor, his name is Gustav, or just Gus," replied Lia stroking the parrot's breast with the back of her forefinger, "He's a friendly creature but he has bad habits,"

"Like what?" asked Gaston.

As if in answer to his question the parrot spoke two words, "Nice tits!"

Lia flushed pink and Gaston's eyes grew round as coins, "He….he's a very vulgar parrot," Lia explained.

Evidently pleased with himself Gus fluffed up his feathers and proceeded to follow up his statement with amours sounds and lecherous obscenities.

"I'm trying to break him of that….but it's not working," she sighed and put the parrot back on his ledge where he burst into a bawdy song about a mermaid and a sailor.

Gaston couldn't help but laugh, "At least he's entertaining, you should take him to a tavern! He'd be very popular,"

Lia scoffed, "Dirty bird gives me more trouble than he's worth; I swear he does it on purpose."

"So why keep him?"

Lia shrugged, "He's company, even if he is absolutely vile sometimes, I get a little lonely on the road so it helps to have someone to talk to."

Gustav clicked his beak and hopped down from his perch to scuttle over to Lia's shoe, searching for dropped crumbs. Lia nudged him away with the toe of her boot, "Go on then," she said, "There's no more for you today." With an indignant chirp Gus hopped onto a nearby basket. Lia set about, spreading a blanket next to Gaston, the wagon was not very wide and it had just enough room for her to stretch out beside him. "Don't get any ideas," she said, "You touch me and I will toss you out of my wagon so fast you won't know what happened,"

"You're safe," said Gaston, "I'm not that kind of man,"

"Good," Lia replied leaning back and closing her eyes. It wasn't long before she was asleep. Leaving Gaston to do nothing but think.

And think he did, he tried very hard not to, but the thoughts came anyway. What would happen when he returned home? Had Belle gone back to her house? Now that her beast was dead was there someone else that might come and claim her? It stung him to think that after all he'd done she'd never be his…

All of his hard work and effort had gone to waste. It wasn't even a consolation to him that the beast didn't have Belle, what good was that if Gaston didn't have a chance anymore? Was there even a point in returning to the village? With an angry sigh he shut his eyes, he'd figure it all out tomorrow...all this thinking was giving him a headache.

….

The Castle

….

"What are you thinking about?"

The sound of Belle's voice drew Adam from his thoughts as he sat in his chair, gazing thoughtfully into the fire. He gave his wife a half-smile.

"Gaston," he replied, "I keep thinking that if it wasn't for him I might still be cursed,"

"Well, I guess that's true…but surely that doesn't excuse him for what he did," replied Belle.

"No, but I after everything you told me about him I have to wonder why you always hated him and loved me," said Adam.

Belle furrowed her brow, "You two are nothing alike," she said. Adam had spent so much of his time since his transformation brooding that Belle often wondered if he was actually happy to be human again. It seemed it was all over Gaston. Belle would have been content to let Gaston be forgotten forever but Adam seemed less inclined to do so.

"Belle, don't you understand? _He was me_! He was me before I met you, arrogant, vain, selfish, wrathful; it was like looking in a damn mirror when I wound up face to face with him," Adam growled, "I want to hate him but I can't…I can't do anything but pity him. He was like me, but no one had ever shown him he was wrong. No one stopped him from destroying himself,"

"Why don't you let it go? It's all over now and everything had work out for the best," Belle frowned,

Adam sighed, "I just can't help but think that if our roles had been reversed and he was the beast instead of me…that I might have done the same thing," he said.

Belle's frown deepened, she didn't want to think for a moment that there was any resemblance between her husband and Gaston. "No you wouldn't! I know you wouldn't!" she insisted.

Shaking his head sadly Adam propped his elbow up on the arm of the chair. "Belle….I would have left an old woman to freeze to death in the middle of a cold winter night, I would have left your father to rot forever in my dungeon, ask yourself, what difference was there between me and him?"

Belle fidgeted in her seat, she didn't like where this conversation had gone and part of her regretted asking him what was on his mind. Sensing that his wife was uncomfortable Adam decided to change the subject, "I'm having my old room in the west wing converted to a study," he said, trying not to sound half-hearted about it.

"That will be nice," said Belle, her frame relaxing. She picked up one of the books she'd brought with her and started reading.

Adam sank back into his chair and resumed his brooding. This time about Belle, he loved the woman very much, but it occurred to him that she didn't always like to face reality, always escaping into her books or simply refusing to look at the ugly truth when it threatened to make her second guess herself or someone else. While it was true that she no longer had to fear him or hate him he was still the same person as before. Just because he could control his temper didn't mean it was gone, who was to say he wouldn't slip and repeat old mistakes from time to time? He didn't doubt that she loved him but sometimes he wondered if she thought he was a different man altogether just because he'd learned from his mistakes. She hadn't really changed him…just improved him a little. Did she know that? After a while he grew tired of brooding and stood. He kissed Belle's cheek and told her that he was going to the kitchens to see if there were any leftovers from dinner still sitting around. She gave him a nod, too absorbed in her book to look up at him.

….

_Hello readers,_

_Welcome to the second chapter where there is much brooding. I decided to bring Adam and Belle back into the story because I want to take a closer look at them as a couple. One thing that struck me about Adam was the parallels to Gaston one can draw from his character, before Belle's influence changed him. I personally don't like the idea that Belle cause him to do a complete 180, he was a much more interesting character before he became all tame and docile and I want to bring that back to the surface in this fic. I also want to examine Belle a little bit, and I'm afraid this fic may not always be the most Belle-friendly of fics. I do like her and I wouldn't make her out to be a terrible person or anything, but I don't think she's perfect; I'll just have to keep writing and see where it all goes from here. Feel free to add your own commentary on these characters in your reviews if you'd like._

_Cheers_

_~Enos_


	3. Chapter 3

By the time they reached Rouen Gaston had nearly healed, he could get up and walk about as long as he didn't strain himself and he estimated that in another two weeks or so he'd be able to hunt again. When Lia stopped her wagon in the town square he stood outside and watched as she sold and traded her goods. He admired how easily she charmed her customers with a quick smile and a wink. Or a light compliment to their hair or clothes. She was good at this; she knew just what to say and how to say it to make the buyer do what she wanted. She was a girl after his own heart, in that respect. Hours passed, the sun went down, and it was time for Lia to close shop. The two sat in the wagon counting Lia's profits.

"Rouen is always a good place for me, the people here have lots of money so they spend it more readily than they do in other towns," she said separating the coins by value into even stacks.

"How long have you been doing this?" asked Gaston, as he quickly summed up the amount in each stack and made a note of it in a little log book. Being that he often did business at the Tavern and traded his skins and pelts he was very handy at managing money and with their combined efforts he and Lia were getting the coins counted and sorted in record time.

"Five years ago I started by selling homemade skirts and jewelry, once I'd made a little money I started buying and selling different goods. This made me even more money and I was able to acquire a wagon and horse. I started traveling when I was seventeen and I picked up exotic wares from foreign merchants. Such items sell high among collectors and before I knew it I had had a trade route," said Lia.

"How old are you?" asked Gaston.

"Twenty years,"

"Where's your family?" he asked,

"Haven't really got one, my mother is probably wandering around Paris this time of year, she travels with a circus and when I was a child I stayed with her. But I developed some wanderlust in my teens and went my own way," said Lia.

Gaston frowned, that sounded awfully independent for a woman. He wouldn't have thought a girl could do so well for herself without a husband or a father.

"You seem troubled," said Lia.

"Well…well it's just that you're a _girl_," said Gaston.

"What's your point? Girl, boy I can do anything I need to," said Lia with a toss of her hair.

"I never really thought a woman could make it on her own without a husband or father," said Gaston.

"Why would you say that?" asked Lia with a frown.

"Well, it goes back to my own mother, she couldn't do anything for herself, all she could do was cook, clean and mend clothes. When my father died she had nowhere to go and she had to re-marry or we would have lost the house. She always did what her husband told her too, she never argued or talked back. That was the way she was, and she would always tell me that if I got a wife that I should take care of her and protect her. That's what a wife was for, and in return for being taken care of women serve their husbands," he explained.

Lia scoffed, "Horseshit,"

Gaston was not certain how to react to that, she had just blatantly rejected a sentiment that to Gaston was as firmly set as the very laws of nature. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded.

"I mean what I said, _horseshit_," Lia folded her arms and leaned against the wall of the wagon, "If a woman is willing to settle for that kind of life then it's on her, but being a woman is no excuse to be helpless. God, if I had to depend on a husband or father I would be out of luck. My father was a gypsy vagabond who disappeared not long after I was born, mother did most of the raising but living with a circus means you are on your own from the start. If I hadn't learned to take care of me then I would be lost…or dead," she mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

Gaston had nothing to say to that, it went against everything he'd ever learned about women. In the short time he'd known her Lia had proved herself to be tough and shrewd, she didn't compromise and she had a good head for business. He didn't think he'd have said the same of most of the men in Bergeron, forget the women. He was beginning to suspect that he'd been a bit naïve about the roles of men and women in the world.

"So what would you do if you did find a man who wanted to wed you?" asked Gaston, curious to see her reaction.

Lia shrugged, "I don't know, I like to travel and I'd have to love someone very much to give up my life as a merchant for him."

"Why do you like it so much? What's so wrong with being a housewife?" asked Gaston.

Lia fixed her fierce golden eyes on him, the sudden tilt of her head recalling to Gaston the image of a poised hawk. "If you were to ask a housewife, "where have you been and what did you see?" how do you think she will reply? She will tell you that she has seen the shops in her town and the same people she grew up around. I can tell you stories you wouldn't believe, for I have seen Arabia, Venice, India, and the Orient." She gestured to the exotic goods that remained on her shelves, "I have seen people wearing robes with colors that you probably can't even imagine and palaces so grand that they put the king's castle to shame with their splendor. What housewife can tell you of these things? I wanted this life of adventure ever since I was a child and I took it! Others dream about these things but I have done them, am still doing them, it will take much more than the promise of comfort and wealth to make me give them up,"

Gaston couldn't help but feel a touch of admiration for her, she was the kind of person who took what she wanted and worked for her goals. He could appreciate that, while Lia wasn't anywhere near his ideal for what a good woman should be she was proving herself to be daring and resourceful and those were qualities to be proud of. There were plenty of dreamers in the world but it took ambition and talent to turn dreams into reality. Lia was a doer, and that automatically made her alright in his book.

"I don't think I've met anyone who could say they've done any of that," he remarked, "I knew a girl who liked to read about adventures and things but I can't picture her in this lifestyle at all."

"Was she your sweetheart?" asked Lia.

Gaston fell silent, "Well…no," he said at length, "Things, didn't work out because she fell for someone else,"

"Another man?" asked Lia.

Gaston clenched his teeth, "A beast!" he snarled, his face contorted with rage.

"A beast?" echoed Lia, "Why would a woman choose an animal over a man?"

"I don't know!" growled Gaston, "I could have given her everything, and she picked a monster over me!"

"I'm sure she had a reason," said Lia, "Women don't chose monsters over men for nothing,"

Gaston fell silent, he hadn't thought that far into it...why had Belle chosen the beast? He didn't have an answer.

"Was it something you did?" asked Lia.

Gaston very nearly protested that. He was a hero not a villain dammit! He hadn't done anything wrong!...except threaten to lock Maurice in an asylum if Belle didn't marry him. Before he could try to justify it to himself he felt a flash of guilt. He'd done less than admirable things before but forcing Belle to marry him had been a new low. Suddenly he didn't want to discuss this any longer...

"It was wasn't it?" said Lia, her eye watching his face closely. He was certainly uncomfortable about something, intrigued she pressed on, "What did you do?"

"I don't want to talk about this," Gaston snapped.

Lia raised an eyebrow, "So it's bad is it?"

"I said I don't want to talk!"

She frowned at him, "Alright, have it your way, but perhaps you'd best think long and hard. Something is weighing on your conscience and the longer you carry it the heavier it will get. Remember that," she spread out her blanket on the floor, "We should sleep now, we will leave town early in the morning and make our next stop within two days. Goodnight Gaston,"

Gaston grumbled an irate goodnight and rolled over so that his back was turned to her. She didn't know what she was talking about! Nothing weighed down on Gaston! Nothing!


	4. Chapter 4

Adam and Belle had their breakfast that morning as usual. It was quiet, like always, _too_ quiet if you were to ask Adam. Belle was contentedly reading her book, oblivious to the world. Adam cleared his throat, hoping to get her attention, No response, he cleared his throat a little louder. Bell looked up as him questioningly.

"What are you reading?" asked Adam, hoping for any excuse to start a conversation.

"King Arthur, it's wonderful, swordfights, romance, magic, you should read it!" she replied, becoming suddenly animated as she gushed about her book.

"I'll be sure to do that later, but I was wondering if you'd like to do something today, like go out horseback riding with me," suggested Adam. Even so they had only been wed for a month Adam was beginning to feel as though they'd begun to slip into a monotonous routine, now that he wasn't a beast any longer he could go out as he liked and he itched to get away from the castle. It had been so long since he'd ridden freely through the countryside and gone into a town. Perhaps one of these days he could coerce Belle to leave her library and show him _her_ town!

"That sounds nice, where do you want to go?" Belle asked.

"I was hoping you could show me your town, maybe we could stop and visit Maurice," said Adam, to his disappointment Belle's interest visibly waned.

"We can go there if you want, but it's not a very exciting place, I don't really miss it at all," said Belle.

"What was so wrong with it? Didn't you have any friends or anything?" asked Adam.

Belle shifted uncomfortably, now that she thought of it she'd never really bothered to get to know anyone in town, she'd spent all of her time reading and hadn't paid much attention to the goings on of the quiet village, "I didn't really do much socializing," she replied.

"I wouldn't have thought you the shy type," replied Adam propping his elbow on the table and resting his chin on his hand.

"I'm not, it's just….a little town full of little people with no aspirations doesn't have much to offer someone like me," said Belle.

Adam's brow furrowed, "How do you know none of them had any aspirations if you never talked to them?"

"They never did anything, they were just content to live out their daily lives as they had since they were born, if they'd had ambitions they would have followed them," said Belle a little more sharply than she'd intended.

"Don't snap at me!" growled Adam,

"Then don't imply that I don't know about my own town!"

"You're awfully quick to look down on them. Did you follow your own ambitions? Did you have any grand specific plan that you were working on? Or did you spend all day reading like you do here?" it was a low blow, but Adam's temper was rising and he was not one to check his words.

"Is that what all this is about? You want me to stop reading my books and pay more attention to _you_?" Belle demanded.

"Well, yes!" said Adam, "You walk around the castle with your nose in your books all day now that the curse is lifted and things are back to normal around here. Sometimes I wonder if you liked me better as a beast! It's like I'm invisible to you now that I'm a man!"

"Well you don't exactly have time for me either; you spend most of your days talking to diplomats and signing papers and things,"

"I'm a King! That's my_ job_! It's not an easy one either! When I do have time to spare I want to spend it with you, actually doing things I _enjoy_ now that I can again!"

"You didn't like the things we did together when you were a beast?" asked Belle, her expression a little shocked and hurt.

"I liked your company and I like doing things _with you_, but feeding birds, taking walks around the grounds, reading books and dancing have never been things I truly enjoyed. I didn't even like to read before I met you!" said Adam. "Being a beast made it impossible to go out, or to ride a horse, or to fence so I didn't have much choice but to follow along with the things you wanted to do,"

Belle tried to protest but fell silent; as much as she didn't want to admit it, he had a point. The while he'd been a beast he had largely done what she wanted, it never occurred to her that he might have just been trying to make her happy, or that it was impossible for him to do much else.

"Belle, I love you, but you must understand, I am not an extension of you, I am a human man with his own interests and they do not always match your own, your head is so far into your books that you don't always see the reality of the world you live in," Adam rubbed his temple, now that he was calm again it was easier to think clearly and choose his words carefully, "Sometimes it would be nice if we did things together that I liked to do, instead of always looking at your books or holding a ball. I want to go out and talk to_ people_ again, not just the servants, I want to meet people and understand how they live, even if they are just the little people in a little town, I have that chance again, and I'm not taking it for granted this time."

Belle felt a little ashamed, she'd put a lot of time into changing him from a beast into a man but she'd never really tried to learn anything about him as a human. He'd never been very open with her about his past and his life and his interests and she'd never thought to ask him. It never occurred to her that once she'd opened him up to things like reading that he wouldn't love books as much as she did.

"Just take a ride into town with me sometime, maybe in a few weeks, you might enjoy it, I'm sure that at the very least your father will be happy for a visit," Adam said coaxingly.

With a sigh and a nod Belle agreed. Maybe she would enjoy this….how bad could being back in town be?

…

Another two weeks had passed and Lia had not been able to pry Gaston's story out of him, she'd given up for the time being and her attention had been diverted to more important things. One day, while they were traveling, both of them seated at the front of the wagon, she shared some disconcerting news with him…

"We can't afford to skip the next town, I was hoping there would be enough money left to get us to the next town over but there's not, prices on supplies have gone up and my purse is emptying quickly," she said. Although she appeared calm Gaston could sense a deep uneasiness in her.

"What's wrong with the next town?" he asked.

"It's a costal trading village, full of thieves and criminals, I prefer to go around it but I need more food for the horse and we need to make a few repairs to the wagon, part of the roof leaks and the left back wheel is squeaky," she replied.

"Well, now that I'm healed up I can protect you!" said Gaston confidently, "You've got nothing to worry about!"

"You seem sure of yourself,"

"Nobody fights like Gaston!" he said proudly.

The corner of Lia's mouth twitched, she was almost tempted to smile at him. In the short time she'd known him she'd learned that he was a cocky fellow who's confidence was hard to shatter and harder to keep down. She had to admit, however grudgingly, that having him around was better than traveling alone. Once he had recovered he's proved to be a hard worker and he took to manual tasks with zeal. Having a strong, able bodied worker who was capable and eager was a great relief to her on many occasions. She was surprised at how quickly it had become natural and comfortable to have him alongside her on her trek across the country.

"Well, if you think we can handle it then I'm sure we'll be fine," she said giving the reins a small tug to steer the horse down the left fork of a narrow road.

Gaston put an arm around her and gave her a hearty squeeze on the shoulder, "With my brawn and your brains we can take on anybody!" in the time that had passed Gaston had learned to appreciate Lia's levelheaded ness and her quick thinking, talking to her was challenging and it was surprisingly gratifying to debate business matters and exchange stories of their adventures as a hunter and a traveler respectively. Lia was a doer, she didn't take to nonsense and flights of fancy and he liked that. They could talk straight, like old friends and partners and he didn't have to put on airs like he would for the women back home.

"Anybody? Even were they the forty thieves of Arabia?" Lia cocked her head in bemusement.

"They wouldn't stand a chance!" he replied enthusiastically, suddenly he frowned "...where's Arabia?"

Lia chuckled, a scholar he was not, but she chalked that up to lack of proper education rather than inborn stupidity. She herself wouldn't have known where Arabia was had she not been there, "Arabia is very far to the south and east of France, it's mostly desert and the people there have dark skin. I can show you some of my maps when we stop and you can see where it is,"

"Is that where you got that gold lamp you keep?" asked Gaston.

"Yes, it was a gift from a very old, very short merchant; he told me a fantastic tale about a genie that was set free by his master. The lamp is not in the best condition, but it's been a bit of a good luck charm, on days when I feel fanciful and content I almost want to think there is still a little magic left in it," replied Lia, blushing a little at her confession.

"I wouldn't count magic out, before I fell down that ravine I had a magic mirror with me, but it's long gone now. I never really got to figure out just how it worked before I lost it," said Gaston.

"How'd you get it?" asked Lia,

"It's a long story," came the short reply.

"About that beast?"

"Yes, I don't feel like discussing that, I think I see the town up ahead," said Gaston, hoping to deflect the subject.

Lia sighed, he didn't seem to want to fully open up to her, but rather than get disheartened she decided to focus on getting in and out of town for right now. She'd just have to keep trying to get his story out of him later.

When they pulled into the town Gaston was immediately taken aback by how dirty it was, beggars crouched in grimy alleys, their clothes in rags and some of them were without shoes. Ragged wenches leaned out of filthy windows and bawled at men passing in the streets. Some of the people they passed watched them like hungry wolves, malice and greed painting their features as clearly as the dirt that seemed to cling to every one of them. Gaston felt Lia tense next to him, glancing over he could see the wariness etched on her face. She actually seemed frightened! He put a large hand on her arm to reassure her that he was there and that he would protect her.

The wagon came to a halt outside of a trading post, Lia dismounted and made certain to lock the door and windows tightly. She gestured for Gaston to follow her, "Keep quiet and try not to get anyone's attention!" she said. He gave her a nod and followed her into the trading post.

Trying not to attract attention was not something Gaston was good at, he walked confidently, without fear and while Lia was at the counter, haggling with the trader an unkempt man with a long, ragged brown beard and a tattered over coat lumbered over to him.

"Yer a new site in this town, and yer look like a right dandy in that flash red shirt, you've got money, sure as I'm standing here!" the ruffian growled, one, dropsy bloodshot eye, widening under the rim of his torn hat.

"Get lost!" snarled Gaston.

The man seemed momentarily cowed by Gaston's aggressiveness but he laughed it off and advanced on him, drawing a knife, "Last chance, gimme wot yer got or I'll stick this twix yer ribs!"

Not caring to toss words with the dirty stranger Gaston opted to shut him up with a solid left hook to the jaw. The knife flew out of the man's hand as he went down, landing near Lia's foot. She picked it up and held on to it...ready to use it should a fight break out. The vagrants and lowlifes in this town tended to travel in packs...

Sure enough, there was a loud yell and a second and third man flew at Gaston. Lia prepared to jump in but she needn't have worried, Gaston had the situation well under control. He picked up the fallen man and threw him at his companions then dove on top of the heap of tangling arms and legs, kicking and punching until the would be robbers fled. Gaston dusted himself off then returned to Lia's side, grinning smugly.

"Please do not make a habit of that," she said, her voice shaking a bit with her relief.

Gaston snorted, "They were nothing! Now, is this trader ready to do business?" he asked, leering down at the thin, weasely little man behind the counter. The man quickly piled some supplies in front of them and gave them a surprisingly fair price, which Lia paid, and they returned to the wagon.

"If it's all the same to you, I would rather not spend the night here," said Lia. "I know we've been on the road all day and we haven't slept, but this is not a safe town,"

Gaston nodded, "I don't think I'd wanna stay here any longer myself, how did you manage coming here on your own?" he asked.

"I never spent the night here, I just stopped and got supplies from the trader and got out, I was lucky enough to avoid confrontation. We have two more towns to hit before we make it to Paris, I figure we can buy you some new clothes in the next town, I might have been able to patch up your red shirt, but you need a little more to wear than that and nothing in the wagon fits you. It's all too small," Lia said. "We'll have to stop once we're out of town and fix up the wagon, I don't dare do it here,"

"You don't have to you know...you've already spend a lot of money on me," said Gaston uncomfortably.

"I don't mind, you've been good company,"

"Lia?"

"What?"

"Thank you." the words came more easily than he thought they would. He couldn't recall ever having thanked anyone genuinely in his life, but he'd never needed anyone's help before either. Whether she knew it or not, Lia was forcing him to look at life from a different perspective, he found it wasn't so bad, just strange to be deferential to another person. But Lia wasn't just anyone, that made it easier...suddenly he felt that he was in no hurry to go back to the village.

Lia blushed, she'd never had anyone thank her before, but then there had never _been _anyone before Gaston. She'd always been content to wander around on her own, she'd been certain that picking up another person would just be an inconvenience, but Gaston was quickly becoming a solid fixture in her life and she wondered what she'd do when their time was up and he went back home. She certainly would miss him...

* * *

><p><em>Hello again,<em>

_I thought I'd explain my portrayal of Belle and Adam in this chapter, my impression of the character Belle is largely based on the first scene in the film, specifically the song "little town". My initial reaction the Belle was that she was sort of in her own world, just from the way she wandered around, not really paying much attention to what's going on around her. I got the feeling that she didn't really take much interested in the townsfolk because she found their town tedious and boring. As intelligent and sensible as she is in the movie she still strikes me as being largely a dreamer and one that may not be all that concerned with other people's likes and interests and lifestyles. I don't think she'd purposely ignore anyone, but I get the vibe that she wouldn't think to get very involved with the people around her because she'd be busy day dreaming or reading._

_The character of Adam is a little trickier, we never really find out much about him in the movie except that before he was a beast he was spoiled and bratty and even cruel. When I looked him up on the Disney wiki, no lie, his only like was "Belle's company". In a lot of the discussions about beauty and the beast I come across he seems little more than Belle's accessory. I thought's I'd try and make him a bit more complex and try to make him a different character from Belle. Even so he and Belle are a pair he should be his own entity. While the movie doesn't provide a lot of detail about him, and infact makes him kind of boring once Belle starts changing him, I believe there's enough to work with. I don't like the midquel at all but I watched it again to see if I could get any insight on the beast's character as a human, under all the bratty behavior. I didn't get much, except that he doesn't care for reading, to quote the movie on his feelings about books "This one's different, it's from Belle". Reading is something Belle likes, and he likes Belle, ergo he's willing to do something he wasn't normally inclined to do before he met her, in this case read a book. A lot of people seem to think that Belle and Adam are the same people, same likes and interests. I can't be satisfied with that, so if you take issue with Adam not really liking to read, I'm sorry, but I never got the impression that he DID like to read on his own._

_~Enos_


	5. Chapter 5

They didn't make camp that night, rather they drove in shifts, Gaston, taking the first and Lia the second, then Gaston again shortly after dawn, still they didn't reach the next town and Gaston decided to pull over and rest the horse. He headed to the back of the wagon, thinking to catch up on a little sleep when his stomach growled, he hadn't eaten yesterday and the hunger was catching up to him. It wasn't pleasant, going hungry; he was accustomed to having four or five dozen eggs for his breakfast and all this sparing food and rationing meals was starting to get to him. In the past week he'd only had a fraction of what he might normally eat in the span of a day or two.

He supposed there was nothing to be done about it; he didn't have his blunderbuss or his bow so he couldn't catch a deer or a pig._ But_ if he had a rope he could possibly catch a rabbit…

It didn't take him long to find a spare bit of rope and he quickly tied one end into a loop that would tighten when he pulled on it. He grabbed a piece of cabbage for some bait and went to look for some rabbit tracks. Several minutes of searching rewarded him with fresh droppings and paw prints, and soon he caught sight of some brown rabbits in the distance. Laying down the rope he put the bait in the middle of the loop and crouched down low, behind a rock to wait.

Half an hour passed before a rabbit grew bold enough to hop over and sniff the cabbage. Gaston watched it closely and waited for it to get into just the right position before he yanked hard on the rope, catching the rabbit's upper body in the tightened loop. He pulled out a knife he'd borrowed from Lia and made quick work of the little creature. He was pleased to note that the rabbit was large and healthy, a good sign that other game in the area would be plentiful. Fat rabbits meant there was lots of food and that could mean deer and wild pigs. He'd have try and get a bow, buying one would be expensive but perhaps he could make one, if Lia let him have some twine he could surely find a good branch to carve up. He'd repaired and strung his own bows often enough to know exactly how they were put together. He decided he'd bring it up to her over breakfast. Which they would be having as soon as he found some eggs, he was sure he'd seen some wild pheasants nearby…

….

Lia woke to the smell of cooking food and the sound of Gustav clucking away outside. Sticking her head out of the wagon she found Gaston sitting on a log and frying up some eggs in a skillet while a large rabbit roasted on a spit over a fire.

"Oh there you are! Breakfast isn't ready yet, but give it a few more minutes," Gaston said cheerfully. Gustav was perched on his shoulder, whistling and clicking when he suddenly burst into song.

"No one cooks like Gaston! Has good looks like Gaston! No one catches rabbits with ropes like Gaston!" Gus sang in a surprisingly accurate imitation of Gaston's voice.

Gaston flushed and gave the bird a prod, "Stop that!" he hissed. Gus squawked and ruffled his feathers indignantly. Lia laughed and scooped her parrot up in her hands and placed him on her shoulder. "One thing you should know; never say anything around Gus you don't want repeated,"

"I'll keep that in mind" he grumbled

"Where'd you find the eggs?"

"There was a quail's nest not far from here,"

Lia sat down next to him, "Well, you're proving handy to have around, since we've stopped we might as well take the time to do some repairs to the wagon," she suggested.

"The leaky roof and the wheel right?" Gaston asked as he moved the eggs away from the heat and set them down so they could cool.

"Right, how good are you at repairing things?"

"I'm the best you'll find!" Gaston hadn't actually repaired anything like a wagon before but he figured that if he could patch up a roof or mend his hunting equipment that a wagon wouldn't present much of a challenge.

"Good, I think the wheel may have come a bit loose from the axle, you can look at that first," said Lia.

"It will be fixed in no time!"

….

Gaston found himself in a bit of a dilemma; he had no idea how to fix the wagon wheel. He'd never worked with anything like it before and making minor repairs around his own house was not the same as taking off and re-attaching a wheel. After several long minutes of fiddling with it he stepped back, Lia was watching him, a bemused look on her face.

"You have no idea what you're doing," she said.

"Of course I do!" protested Gaston, "Just give me a minute!"

Lia folded her arms and waited. Gaston worked the wheel a bit more and managed to get it off, but from there he had no clue what to do. Lia rolled her eyes and took the wheel from him, "I'll take care of the wheel, you can fix the roof," she said.

Not about to be outdone by anyone Gaston took the wheel from her, "Nonsense! I can do this!" he said, after his bragging at breakfast he couldn't let himself be shown up like this! He'd fix that wheel one way or another!

"No, no you can't! If you aren't careful you could make the problem worse!" said Lia.

"I'll fix it! Don't worry about it!"

"You don't know what you're doing! If you break my wagon we'll be stuck out here!"

Intent on proving that no task was to hard for him, Gaston ignored Lia and tried to put the wheel back on, he gave it a hard twist and then there was a loud cracking sound and part of the axle snapped, the wood splintering under the pressure Gaston had put on it.

"What have you done?!" Lia cried rushing over to examine the damage, "Oh God, you've broken the axle, there's no way we can fix it now," she put her hands up to her face.

"Maybe if you'd bought a better wagon…" Gaston muttered sullenly, he wasn't going to apologize; Lia's wagon was old and beat up as it was. There was no way it was his fault the thing had finally broken.

Lia's expression went from disbelief to outrage, "Maybe if I'd…why didn't you listen to me?! Don't you know that when someone tells you to stop something they mean it?! Do you always have this problem?! That you cannot understand that when someone tells you not to do something that you should not do it?!" she howled, "We're stuck out here now! We'll have to walk to town and hope we can find someone who can help us move the wagon somewhere it can be repaired! Do you have any idea how much this will cost me?! Oh God what am I going to do? I don't even think I have enough to cover the expense of supplies and repairs…"

Gaston wanted to argue back, wanted to say that it wasn't his fault and that she shouldn't have tried to tell him he couldn't do it, but deep down he knew that he should have swallowed his pride and listened. With a flash of guilt he remembered how he hadn't listened to Belle when she had told him to leave her alone. Perhaps...just perhaps he didn't always know what was best. It was a painful thought, he wasn't perfect, he was wrong. Lia looked positively distraught, he'd never seen her get upset like this.

"What am I going to do now?" she muttered, "We can't leave the wagon here, someone might come along and loot it," she shook her head in distress.

"M..maybe I can help," said Gaston softly, hesitant to offer an idea but determined to try and make things right again one way or another.

"I think we've had enough of your help," Lia snapped, but her tone lacked bite, she sounded tired instead of angry.

"Why don't you stay with the wagon and I'll go to town and...find something," He wasn't sure what he should look for but maybe the idea would come to him if he made it to the next town and looked around a bit.

Lia frowned and gave it a long thought, finally she nodded, not knowing what else to do. "Alright, but _please, _think before you act! This wagon is my life, if it doesn't get fixed, and soon I don't know what I'll do,"

Shamefaced Gaston nodded, he half-heartedly tried to assure her that everything would be alright but for once he wasn't so sure of himself. He took a small bag of food and started walking towards town, not at all liking the feeling of being uncertain of his own abilities.


End file.
